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This article is still under construction. |
“Diarrhoea syndromes”
It is important to assess the material being produced that gives rise to the above title! See assessment of faeces below. It is amazing how many veterinarians confuse polyuria in rabbits with diarrhoea. Owners often confuse the occurrence of uneaten caecotrophs with diarrhoea in their pets. It’s better to react to variation in the nature and production of faeces and consider such clinical entities as clagged vent – the passage of copious amounts of caecal material from the anus. This may be found adhered to the vent area. The caecotrophs may not been ingested because of non-gastro-intestinal causes (dental overgrowth, spinal deformities, etc).
“Diarrhoea” is rare in pet rabbits, especially adult ones and may result from enteritis which occurs in decreased gastrointestinal motility (constipation). So the appearance of the fluid stool of the carnivore with diarrhoea may not be seen in the similarly afflicted rabbit. In fact, the production of large masses of solid faeces is a more usual presentation, adhered to the vent and not removed by the animal.
If there are normal hard faecal pellets in the animal’s environment, the condition is not diarrhoea.
| Uneaten caecotrophs | Diarrhoea | |
|---|---|---|
| Life threatening? | No | Yes, due to fluid and electrolyte disturbances |
| Frequency of production | Once or twice a day | Several times a day, often mixed with mucus |
| Hard faeces? | Yes - often normal production | No, only unformed stools seen |
| Anorexia | No | Yes |
| Depression | No | Yes |
| Smell | Strong - risk of fly strike | Variable |
| Owner reaction | Maybe over-react, due to smell | Probably slow, due to comparison with monogastric species. |